Miraculous Cure
by SilverWolfee
Summary: AU story: Marienette is in college and knows there are no pets allowed in the dorm, but she finds 3 abandoned kittens in the cold and cannot just leave them. Will she be able to keep them or will the dorms force her into getting rid of them? And what happens when she find out just how sick the little angels are? Find out in The Miraculous Cure.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The wind blows harshly, stinging Marienette's face as she trudges back to her dorm and warmth. As she comes within reach of the building, a whisper of noise reaches her ears. It was such a hushed sound that she contemplated that she imagined it. The closer to the door she got, the clearer the sound of soft cries became.

Walking briskly past the entrance, she discovered tiny fuzzy creatures huddled up in the corner behind some bikes, trying desperately to shelter themselves from the bitter wind. Carefully getting down to her knees for closer examination, she finds the sources of the cries are three nearly newborn kittens! Gently scooping them up into her warm hands, without any whimpers of protest, she conceals them in her outsized bag next to her warm laptop. Praying they don't cry on the way in, she promptly flashes her ID to the desk worker and makes her way up the stairs to her room.

"Hey Alya, we need to talk, its important" Marienette motions for her roommate to come closer. "I found these three kittens freezing to death near the bike racks, what should I do? If the RA catches them they will be taken away and I already love these little guys, I couldn't bear it..." Marienette dramatically cries.

"Awe Mari, you always do things without thinking. Though this time at least it was adorable!" Alya gushes over the new additions to their little family.

"They look like they have colds, I'm going to take them to the vet tomorrow, can you bring back some supplies to care for them?"

"Sure thing girl, now lets get them warmed up and go to bed. What are you going to name them?" she questions.

"The black one I will call Plagg, the red one is Tikki, and the white one is Snowy"

"Snowy is so original Mari" Alya playfully scolds.

"Well you couldn't find a better name! Goodnight!" Mari turns red from embarrassment and turns around to get ready for bed.

Across the room, the kitten's sleep soundly cuddled together in the mushroom chair surrounded by the extra blankets each girl had.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* Beep, beep, beep, smash! * Marienette groans as she throws her alarm clock across the room, again.

"Damn girl, you need to become more of a morning person before you kill someone with that clock! Alya laughs at Marienette's lack of enthusiasm at the eight o'clock wakeup call. She is answered by some incoherent groans as Marinette slowly crawls from her warm comforter to get ready for the vet visit. Pulling over a long sweater dress and boots and quickly tying her raven hair into her familiar low pigtails, Marinette is ready to face the winds of winter once again. Grabbing the kittens and carefully hiding them in her bag again, she quickly bids goodbye to Alya and heads out.

Waiting at the vet's office, Marienette has her precious kittens snuggled in her lap. She didn't get a chance to examine them very well before her exhausted body dragged her into a deep sleep the night before. Tikki, her little red one with blue eyes, had the cutest spots on her head and back, reminding her of a ladybug. Plagg was pure black with green eyes; he seemed to be the oldest of the three. And Snowy was pure white except for a small grey diamond over his right eye. Marienette already loved these kittens and couldn't bear the thought of loosing them.

"Marienette, are you ready?

A strange voice startled Marienette out of her thoughts. She quickly got up to follow the technician to the examination room.

"We are going to do a routine physical, heartworm and leukemia tests, along with any vaccinations they should have at this age." The technician explains to Marienette. After a while, all the tests have been performed and the head veterinarian comes into the room with grave news.

" Marienette I'm afraid I have some terrible news. All three kittens have tested positive for Leukemia. This disease is not curable and they will not survive the year. The best course of action is to love them, and keep them as happy as possible until their time."

Marienette stands there frozen at this news. He precious kittens were going to die, and she couldn't help them. She pays the bill and heads home to share the news with an anxious Alya.

"What! They aren't going to live?" Alya is just as devastated with the news and hugs the teary eyed Marienette tightly. "Its okay girl, at least we get one year with them."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Weeks go by peacefully, and the girls are now fully wrapped around each kitten's small pink paws. Alya brings over their friends Arien and Nino to come see the little angels. Marienette gushes over seeing her crush Adrien playing with Plagg, his favorite little buddy, while she holds a sleeping Tikki.

"Marienette you are the kindest person I know to have brought home these guys, though the craziest to break the dorm rules," Adrien scolds.

Marienette almost faints from him speaking to her, but holds it together enough to squeak out a response. " I know, but I couldn't just leave them outside.

Curfew comes and the boys leave the girls dormitory. As they are getting ready to sleep, Snowy starts making pained gasping sounds. Marienette rushes over to him as he starts to cough up blood. She's freaking out, not quite sure how to help, but before she can even think, he stops moving. 'No, not this soon' Marienette panics, crying as she looses the first of her kittens to Leukemia. Her and Alya mourn the loss of their baby until they are exhausted, falling asleep next to the remaining kittens.

'Beep, beep, beep,' the alarm for class goes off the next morning, and the exhausted girls, groggily go to class in frumpy clothes and un-brushed hair, not really caring about how they look after the night they had.

Alya calls Nino and Adrien back over to inform them of the tragedy that befell Snowy the night before.

"I'm so sorry Marienette" Adrien grabs her and hugs her tight; Marienette is too sad to react and welcomes the gentle touch from him.

The four friends sit somberly around the room, stroking the still sleeping Tikki and Plagg. Marienette falls asleep in Adrien's lap, still holding Tikki in her arms, as Adrien strokes her hair soothingly. Despite being sad, Alya cant help but gush over how cute the two of them were, and snapped a few photos.

"Aww, Marienette looks so happy there Adrien" Alya giggles as Adriens face turns bright red.

"Don't wake her Alya, she needs to rest, as do you" He chides the loudness in her voice.

Thanks to being a weekend, there was no curfew, so Alya suggested having the boys stay over to keep them company. Adrien shifted, moving Marienette so she was lying on the bed. She whimpered at the sudden loss of warmth and held on to him when he tried to get up so he gave up and lay next to her. Marienette cuddled up to his warmth, causing him to blush hard. Alya and Nino were silently laughing at the awkward friends. Soon the four had fallen asleep, with the kittens snuggled with the girls.

"Ahhh!" Marienette screamed seeing Adriens face so close to hers when she woke up. Adrien, scared out of his wits, spazzed and fell out of the bed.

"What Mari?" exclaimed Alya.

"Wha... What is Adrien doing in my bed?" Marienette questions.

"You wouldn't let go of me last night when I tried to leave so we decided to stay here instead" Adrien explained.

Marienette turned her trademark tomato red before stuttering an "oh". Scrambling out of bed, she feeds the kittens and heads out to class with the group.


	4. Chapter 4

Okay I have been uploading every day until now. Sorry college life gets busy and I haven't been able to update as often! However, the chapters are going to be longer and written better than the ones I've posted so far! If there is something you want to see in the story, feel free to send me a message!

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

Marinette was in her special place, a few feet up in the air on her favorite branch of the cherry blossom tree in the quad, watching the sunrise. She leans into the bark, closing her eyes to think. She goes down memory lane, watching Snowy play with the other fur babies. Nostalgia overflows in her as a tear escapes, splashing on her resting hands in her lap. Suddenly she was bursting with determination to save her kittens. Rushing to get up, forgetting she was high up in a tree, Marinette falls. Before she can hit the ground or make a noise, she's caught in strong arms, princess style.

"Well looks like I'm a prince who has saved the damsel in distress," Adrien says with a sparkle of humor in his emerald eyes.

Marinette can only stare dumbfounded at her savior and crush, wide eyed like a deer in headlights.

"You okay Mari?" Adrien worriedly asks, confused by her lack of response to his joke.

"Oh, yes I am, thank you for catching me! I hadn't realized how caught up in my thoughts I was, or remembered that I was in a tree." Marinette says as she wraps her arms around Adrien in a hug.

"What were you thinking about so hard?" Adrien questions as a small blush from her hug creeps upon his cheeks.

"Snowy, how soon he left us… I am not going to let the same fate befall Tikki and Plagg, I will cure them somehow." The determination in Marinette's blue eyes shined as Adrien lowered her to the ground with his arms loosely around her hips, and her around his neck. "Well I got to go, research awaits!" Marinette quickly kisses Adriens cheek and runs off toward the library.

Adrien POV

"She just… kissed my cheek…" Adrien stands where Marinette left him. Leaning against the tree he saved her from, a smile broadens across his face thinking about his damsel in distress. "Wait, since when is she mine?" Adrien's thoughts are beginning to get ahead of him so he decides to head off towards the library after Marinette.

Marinette POV

"Oh my gosh, I cannot believe I just did that!" Marinette panics as she recalls the kiss she laid on her crushes cheek. "Now how am I supposed to look at Adrien? I'm already a bumbling mess when I'm around him…" Her trademark full-face blush burns brightly on her face as she sits in front of an open computer in the library.

Normal POV

"You look pretty lost in thought, don't go falling out of that chair too Mari?" Marinette turns around to see Adrien smiling at his joke on her.

"Silly kitty, I don't always fall when I'm thinking," she laughs back at him.

"Since when am I kitty?"

"Oh uh, your cat like reflexes in catching me this morning got me thinking about nicknaming you that"

"Its cute I like it, my lady" Adrien winks at Marinette, resulting in her blushing hard again.

"Do you need something though? I'm in the middle of researching" Marinette questions.

"No, I came here to help!" He plops down at the computer next to her, ready to work.

A while later, both of them are exhausted from posting on forums and researching leads on cures.

"Crap! We forgot about class!" exclaimed Adrien. Both of them rushed out of the library and sprinted for the Chem. building. Panting hard, they burst through the doors and sat at their usual table with Alya and Nino.

"Well this is new, both our goody two shoes are late for once. What were you up to so early?" Alya questioned with a smirk. Marinette and Adrien both exclaim nothing was going on, just research as their faces heat up with telltale blushes. "You two sure about that?" Nino laughs at their expressions, but before they can answer, a scary presence looms nearby.

"I certainly hope you are doing your class work and not gossiping" an angry voice booms behind them. The teacher is staring expectantly at them. Quickly they get back to their class work.

After class, Marinette is heading back to the dorm with the group when her phone rings. "Hello?"

"Is this Marinette?"

"This is she, who am I speaking to?"

"I am Dr. Akin, I am in the process of an experimental drug for the Leukemia cure. Your plea for help was forwarded to me by a colleague and I would like to extend and invitation to come by my laboratory sometime to test out an experimental cure."

"Yes! I would love that!" Marinette exclaimed. Dr. Akin and her exchange information and set up a date to start the testing. Marinette is overjoyed at the hope she has just been given.

"Spill girl! Who was that?" Alya demands.

"It was Dr. Akin, a Veterinarian from Alaska. She was forwarded one of the pleas for help Adrien and I worked on this morning. She offered for me to come up for testing with a potential cure for Tikki and Plagg!" Marinette excitedly squeals as she's swept up in a group hug surrounded by her cheering friends.

"Congrats Mari! I'm so glad our work paid off." Adrien hugs her even tighter as he congratulates her.

Marinette is on cloud nine as she hugs Adrien back.

"Let's go to that new bar Dobbler's and celebrate!" suggests Alya, resulting in a unanimous agreement.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

At Dobbler's, Alya and Nino disappeared towards the dance floor, while Adrien and Marinette head toward drinks.

"Cheers to a good day and good news!" Marinette exclaims and clinks her glass to Adrien's.

Soon, Adrien notices lightweight Marinette become tipsy.

"Hey" classmate Nathaniel greets Adrien. "What's up? I didn't expect you to be at a place like this?"

"I'm here with friends, Alya's idea."

Nathaniel notices Marinette nearby. "Wow, she's pretty," he whispers to Adrien.

"Yeah" Adrien murmurs under his breath. "That's Marinette, she's a close friend of mine"

"Know if she is single?" Nathaniel questions.

"Yeah" answers Adrien without thinking.

Nathaniel leaves Adrien's side and walks over to her. "Hey pretty girl, want to dance?" Nathaniel asks as he puts his hand on hers.

Giggling, the drunken Marinette is about to accept when she feels an arm around her waist and Nathaniel's hand removed from hers.

"No, she doesn't Nathaniel." Adrien angrily takes Nathaniel's hand off of his girl. 'Wait, my girl?' Adrien thinks to himself, shocked at how often these thoughts pop into his mind.

"Geez man, not like she's got a boyfriend or anything. What's your problem?"

"She is going home. Now." Adrien grabs Marinette who is too drunk to argue, and leads her to Nino and Alya. "Hey guys, Marinette needs to go home so I'm going to call a cab and go early. Have fun" and bids their friends goodbye. In the cab, Marinette falls asleep, peacefully resting on Adrien's lap, as he is lost within his thoughts. 'Nathaniel was right, she is really pretty, soft raven hair, beautiful blue eyes, how is she still single?' Adrien wonders. He admires his friend while stroking her hair softly; she makes a noise of contentment in her sleep earning a small laugh at her cuteness from him. They arrive at the dorm and he tucks her into bed. Adrien grabs a bottle of water and Aspirin to leave on her nightstand for the morning. Remembering about the kittens, Adrien goes over to the little angels and feed them their dinners. Plagg is happy to see his buddy and rubs up against Adrien's leg purring loudly. "Hey buddy, I missed you too," he says, picking up the fur ball and petting him. Putting Plagg back down to finish his food, Adrien walks over to Marinette. "Goodnight my lady" he whispers in her ear and kisses her forehead as he exits and heads home His mind full of thoughts about his newfound attraction to his best friend.

Waking up in the morning, Marinette's head is pounding and she isn't sure how she got home. Looking over to check the time, she sees the water and pills with a sign 'Take these when you wake up - Adrien.' "That's so sweet" Marinette accidentally says out loud.

"Well good morning sleepyhead, how was your night with Adrien?" Alya giggles seeing the shock on Marinette's face.

"I'm not telling you, it's private!" Marinette panics at remembering the

"How am I supposed to live not knowing all the juicy details of your drunken stupor" Alya dramatically wails, earning a pillow flying at her face from Marinette.

"Not going to spill. We are gonna be late for our final exams if you try to force me to talk."

The argument is soon interrupted. Tikki starts meowing weakly at Marinette, begging for food. "Here baby" Marinette talks to her favorite kitten as she bends down with a bowl of kitten chow for her. Tikki greedily eats, as Plagg lazily stretches from his bed." Goodmorning to you too" Marinette laughs at him. Plagg responds by silently walking over to his bowl and starts eating as well.

Heading to class, they join up with Nino and Adrien.

"Morning boys" Alya greets as she walks over to Nino, leaving Marinette and Adrien at the back of the pack.

"Do they seem chummier than usual or is it just me?" adrien questions Marinette.

"You're right, they never usually walk ahead of us or that close to each other." raising her voice she yells over to the pair "what happened after we left?"

"Oh that's right, I forgot to tell you this morning Mari, sorry." Alya looks towards Nino to explain to their friends.

"We got really close at the bar last night, and well, turns out we have had a mutual attraction for a while, so now we are together!" and to prove his point, Nino grabs Alya by the waist.

Marinette and Adrien can only manage to stare dumbfounded at the new couple. This was unexpected.

"Well congrats" Adrien exclaims.

The four continue their walk to class. It is finally the last day before winter break, and so close to the day Marinette starts the kittens on the experimental cure, but they all have to get through final exams.

"Good luck Mari" Adrien whispers to her from his seat as their teacher passes out the exam booklet.

"You too!"

After the exam the group rejoins and is beyond relieved they got through the semester.

"You off to pack for your trip Mari?" Adrien questions.

"Yep. I'm going to miss you guys."

"At least it's only 2 weeks" Alya reassured.

The group shares its goodbyes with Adrien giving Marinette an extra long hug before they part ways. Marinette packs up for the trip and is about to head out the door as she bids Alya goodbye.

"Mari, aren't you forgetting something?"

"No, I have my clothes, kitten supplies…" she is interrupted from listing by a tight hug. "Awe Alya I'll be back soon! I miss you already girl" Marinette is released from the hug and heads to her car, kittens and bags in tow. "Well, time to save my babies!" Marinette full of hope starts her long drive to Alaska to meet Dr. Akin.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Sitting on the nearly empty plane, Marinette gets lost in thought stroking the kittens in her lap. Excited as she is that there is hope for her kittens, the reality of how close she is to losing them hits her hard. The emotions bubbling inside her are overwhelming and she sheds a few silent tears.

"Are you okay?" a stewardess sees the distressed Marinette and goes over to see what's wrong.

"Oh! Yes, thank you ma'am, I'm just thinking"

"Call me Myléne. Your kittens are absolutely precious, can I hold one?" Marinette invites Myléne to sit down and hands her Plagg. Marinette goes on to explain the situation and trip to try an experimental cure for them.

"Now I understand why you were upset… losing one of them, I couldn't even imagine the pain."

They chatted for the remainder of the flight, parting in a hug as Myléne wishes Marinette good luck as she walks away.

Plagg and Tikki snug in her bag, Marinette climbs into the cab she hailed. Sleepy, she rests her eyes as he drives her to the hotel. Settling in, Marinette gives the kittens some food and decides to group Skype her friends.

"Yo Mari! What's up?" Nino exclaims as him, Adrien and Alya appear on the screen.

Alya starts chattering about how she's loving her trip to Cuba and talks about how the sun is high and the Ocean is sparkling and warm while Nino and Adrien update the girls about their trip to Adrien's ski resort in Northern California.

"Well kittens and I have to go to sleep, early morning. Goodnight guys!"

Marinette bids goodnight to her friends and heads to bed, with Tikki and Plagg curled up on the pillow beside her.

Waking up the next morning, Marinette goes to feed the kittens, and then stops herself. Dr. Akin warned her not to feed them before their visit, as it would mess up the Leukemia pre-test they needed to perform. "Sorry guys, no food this morning" Marinette apologizes, receiving only mewls of protest. She scooped them up and headed out the door.

At the veterinary clinic, Marinette meets with Dr. Akin in the laboratory

"Hello Mrs. Akin" Marinette says cheerfully

"Please, call me Ashley" she responds with a smile. "Now, lets get started. I'm going to need a drop of blood from each kitten to do a Leukemia test. This is so I can have a rough estimate as to how many cancerous cells there are. Then we shall start them on the pills, and in about a week come back and re-test to see if the cells have decreased. Sound like a plan?" Ashley explained the process as well as she could to Marinette.

"Sounds good!" Marinette excitedly exclaimed.

After the testing, Ashley showed Marinette the Leukemia results; the kittens were flooded with the cancerous cells. They were running out of time to save them.

"Now remember, give them 3 pills each every night and make sure they don't just eat the food around them." Ashley reminded Marinette.

"I will. Thank you so much for this chance Ashley!" Marinette hugs the veterinarian goodbye.

Marinette heads back to the hotel with the kittens. Feeding the kittens their food, she puts the medicine into each bowl and has no struggle with getting them to eat it. After they've finished and she's gotten into her pj's, Marinette climbs into bed with Plagg and Tikki and drifts off into dreamland.

In the morning, the sun shines through the window, waking Marinette from a lovely dream. Stretching, she gets up to get ready for a packed day of touring Anchorage. "Hey Tikki, you ready for the day?" Marinette picks up Tikki and pets the red kittens fuzzy fur. Plagg is still asleep on her pillow as he is very lazy.

Marinette puts Tikki and Plagg into her bag and heads on out to tour around Anchorage. She had seen multiple fliers advertising the Fur Rondy festival Ice Sculpture Park and thought it would be interesting to see it; and with it being a gorgeous day it was the perfect opportunity. While walking along through the sculptures, Marinette bumps into a large wall, falling down into the snow. Getting her wits about her, she inspects what she just bumped into, only to find out it wasn't a wall, but a man.

"Well hello there pretty girl, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" the strange man questions her as he helps her off the ground.

"Just here visiting. Thank you for helping me up" Marinette gratefully accepts his help up and starts dusting the snow off of her jeans.

"No problem. I'm Kim. If you want to pay me back you could come watch some Netflix with me" Kim suggests, with an odd tone to his voice that worries Marinette.

"No thank you Kim, I don't feel comfortable going anywhere alone with a stranger. Thank you for your help but I need to go" she replies while backing away to make an escape.

"Kim are you being creepy again?" an accusing voice shouts from nearby. "Miss, is this oaf bothering you?"

"No I was just about to head on my way" Marinette sheepishly responds, not wanting to get Kim in trouble with the angry looking girl heading toward them.

"I'm Juleka, a friend of Kim's. Don't worry he is harmless. Are you here alone? Want to come hang out with Rose and us?"

Juleka seemed kind and Marinette was lonely without her group, so she accepted the offer and went to meet Rose, a shy girlish young lady. The entire group seemed about her age. Turns out they were college students from UAA. The group invited Marinette to a really cool coffee shop down the street from the park.

"Oh my gosh! Are those kittens?" Rose shrieks seeing Plagg poke his head out from the bag.

"Yes, that's Plagg and Tikki, they are why I'm visiting" Marinette explains the entirety of her time with the kittens, including the vet trip here to the group as she lets Juleka and rose hold them.

"I'm so sorry about your loss Mari, I hope these guys make it" Kim says.

"Me too. Well its getting late, thank you for the coffee, it was so nice to meet you guys!" Marinette leaves parting with hugs to each other them and heads to the hotel. In the room, she lets Tikki and Plagg out of the bag, feeds and medicates them then heads to bed exhausted.

A soft buzzing noise wakes Marinette from her sleep. Turning over and opening just one eye, she grabs her phone to check what was so important to text her before the sun was up. The name flashing on the screen was Adrien. Marinette shot up in bed, just about throwing her phone across the room in a panic.

'Hey Mari, hope you are doing well. I haven't heard from you so I wanted to check up on you'

"Awe, that's so sweet of him!" Marinette absentmindedly said to herself. Amazed at her bravery, she decided to call him instead of text back and give an update on the events that occurred the last few days.

It's officially been a week so Marinette gets the kittens packed up and brings them over to Ashley's office for the check up.

"Hello Marinette, how are the little angels doing?" Ashley asks as she picks up Plagg and Tikki to inspect them.

"They are doing okay I think. They still aren't as active as most kittens." Marinette confesses.

Ashley takes blood from them and runs the leukemia test once again in the back room. "Marinette I'm so sorry. Their leukemia levels haven't decreased at all." Ashley regrettably told Marinette the news.

Marinette goes to the hotel sadly after parting ways with Ashley, and starts to pack up for her trip home. Ashley felt terrible at the failure so she paid for Marinette's trip and hotel bill as an apology.

At the dorm, Alya, Nino and Adrien are excitedly waiting for Marinette's arrival. She opens the door and looks at the group with tears in her eyes; they know exactly what must have happened, and grab her into a group hug.

"It's okay Mari, you did everything you could" Alya says to her best friend.

"If it's alright with you guys I'm just going to go to sleep. Do you guys mind staying? I don't want to be alone right now." Marinette quietly asks them.

"Of course! I'm offended you would assume we would leave" Nino jokes.

Marinette sits down on her bed with Tikki, as Nino an Alya take Plagg and go to sleep. Adrien sits over by Marinette and strokes Tikki. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, just… can I lay next to you? I don't want to be alone right now" Marinette hesitantly asks.

"Sure." He scoots over and Marinette lies down, using his arm as a pillow, with Tikki sleeping soundly between them. "Goodnight Mari."

"Goodnight."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Small purrs stir Marinette from her sleep slightly. 'Wow, my pillow is so warm…' in her semiconscious state, Marinette contemplates the new feeling to her pillow. Opening her eyes, she is chin to nose with Adrien. A smile graces her lips as she realizes she is lying on her crushes arm and he has his arms wrapped around her waist in his sleep. 'He's a sleep cuddler, that's so cute!'

Tikki is still lying on Marinette's arm, makes a soft cry as she stirs from sleep as well. The kitten coughs a bit, stares at Marinette and goes right back to sleep. Marinette looks sadly at Tikki at the reminder that her health is still declining.

Snuggling up into Adrien's warmth, gently stroking Tikki, Marinette leans her head back on his arm and falls back into a peaceful sleep.

A few hours later

The sun shines right into Marinette's closed eyes, disturbing her from her sleep. She rubs her eyes and stretches her arms upward, until they smack right into a blunt object.

"Owe! What was that for?" Marinette's pillow jerks out from under her, reaching up towards where her hands hit.

Marinette looks up to see Adrien half sitting up while holding his now bright red nose. "I am so sorry Adrien! I didn't mean to hurt you!" Marinette sits up while panicking and blushing hard at her embarrassment.

"Its okay, I'll be fine. Just next time try not to beat on me," Adrien laughs at her goofy freak out mode.

"Geez Mari, don't hurt the poor boy," Alya scolds while trying to hold in her laughter. Nino, not so well composed as his girlfriend, busts out in laughter at the scene, earning a glare from Alya. Soft meows from Tikki and Plagg interrupt the moment, reminding that they are hungry.

"Okay kitties, lets get you some food." Holding Tikki, Marinette climbs over Adrien, earning a blush from him, as she gets off the bed to get food for the kittens. Nino brings Plagg over to the bowls, but Plagg being overly eager for food tries to jump out of Nino's hands.

"Whoa there little guy" Nino lowers Plagg down to the ground as Plagg makes a run for it to his bowl, greedily gobbling up all his food in minutes while Tikki calmly eats her fill.

"Well we better head back to our room to get ready for classes. See you girls soon!" Nino kisses Alya and bids them goodbye.

"Bye Mari" Adrien gives Marinette a quick hug and follows Nino out.

Adrien and Nino POV

"Hey man, you've been pretty cozy with Mari lately. Want to tell me something?" Nino prods his best friend.

"What? No way, she's my friend, you know that." Adrien tries to defend himself, with the telltale blush giving him away.

"Adrien, you can't hide these things from me. What's up?"

"Honestly I have no idea. I've been having thoughts about her that are really new to me. And I've been having jealous bouts when other guys talk about her…" Adrien confesses.

"Dude I know where you are coming from. When I first met Alya, we were just friends; she was like one of the guys. Then I started thinking about how pretty she was, how nice it was when I was with just her, and bam! I confessed to her and now look, she's my girlfriend."

"You're saying I should confess to Marinette? But what if she doesn't feel the same, I don't want to lose her as a friend." Adrien starts freaking out at the idea of bad outcomes.

"Trust me when I say this, it would be a good idea." Nino pats his friend on the shoulder and heads into the bathroom to get ready for class.

Marinette and Alya POV

Marinette and Alya get ready, bid goodbye to the kittens and head out to class. On her walk to the Science Building, Marinette bumps into Adrien.

"Hey, you ready for that quiz today?" Adrien asks.

"There's a quiz today? Oh no I completely forgot to study!" Marinette panics.

"No I'm just messing with you"

"You brat!" Marinette glares at him. 'Who does he think he is to act like such a brat! I can't even stay mad at him for long… ugh!' she angrily thinks to herself.

Adrien laughs at her cute attempt at looking angry. 'Wait cute?' he catches his thought processes going in that strange direction again. They continue their walk to class, both lost in their own thoughts. Marinette and Adrien make it a habit to walk to class together every day that week.

Friday afternoon Adrien follows Marinette to the cherry tree in the quad. Marinette climbs up into her favorite spot, dangling her legs over the large branch and closes her eyes, enjoying the warmth from the sun. Adrien climbs up and joins her. Marinette could feel her thumping heart when he moved close and brushed his hand next to hers. Tired, Marinette leaned her head against him to take a nap.

Adrien's POV

Feeling her head rest against his shoulder made Adrien happier than he expected. Remembering Nino's advice, he decided to push his limits just a little to see if Nino was crazy or if Marinette would be okay with it. Moving his hand ever so slightly, he put it over hers and gently wrapped his fingers around it. 'Her hand is so small, and warm in mine' he absentmindedly thinks as a yawn escapes. Deciding to nap like Mari, he shifts to lean his head down and kiss her forehead. A ghost of a smile graces her lips, resulting in one from Adrien as well before he was pulled into dreamland, resting his head on Marinette's.

Marinette's POV

Waking up fully rested from that nap, Marinette notices she cannot move her head or hand; Adrien is still asleep resting on her head and holding her hand. Blushing she shakes Adrien slightly to wake him up. "Hey sleepyhead, I need to head back and check on the kittens." Adrien stirs and sleepily climbs down with her to head back to their dorms.

Normal POV

On the way back, they bump into Nathaniel.

"Hey Adrien, Marinette. How are you guys?" he asks.

"Do I know you?" Marinette questions, not remembering the night at Dobbler's.

"Yea, we met at Dobbler's a while back. Adrien took you home before I could properly ask you to dance though" He stares accusingly at Adrien. " So, would a pretty girl like you want to go out sometime?"

Marinette becomes uncomfortable at the suggestion and Adrien notices her hesitation.

"She can't Nathanial."

"And why not? She's not taken, she has a right to decide for herself" Nathanial angrily challenges Adrien.

"Actually Adrien is my boyfriend now. Sorry but I am taken." Marinette butts into the boy's argument. Both boys stare at her dumbfounded.

"You told me she was single?" Nathaniel manages to accuse Adrien.

"Things change," he responds as he grabs Marinette's hand to help their case. Seeing that Nathaniel had no chance, he stormed off angrily.

"Thank you Adrien. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like that." Marinette gives him a tight hug, still not letting go of his hand as she was enjoying the feeling. They finish their walk, still holding hands, neither wanting to let go. They walked in silence until they got to Marinette's dorm.

"I'll see you tomorrow," and in a fit of bravery, Marinette leans and kisses Adrien's cheek before letting go of his hand and walking away into the dorm.

Marinette and Alya POV

Marinette got back to the room to recount the details of her day that led to the creation of a pretend relationship."…And when we got to the door, I kissed Adrien's cheek, and ran away" Marinette admitted while picking up Tikki and petting her soft red fur.

"…You did what?!" Alya shrieks in shock and disappointment as the thoughts of double dates go out the window. "Mari if I could, I would ground you for being so shy!"

"I know I messed up, I panicked!"

Alya shakes her head as she heads to bed. "Goodnight Mari."

"Goodnight" Marinette replies as she tucks Tikki and Plagg in next to her under the covers. Tikki sneezes and curls up into a ball in her usual spot next to Marinettes shoulder while Plagg crawls up onto the pillow and stretches out, covering as much area as his small body could.


	8. Chapter 8

I am so sorry for the late update! I have had a homework overload with essays and then had writers block so I had to put off updating for a while. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8

"Marinette look what you got in the mail today! Its from Dr. Akin." Alya bursts into the room excitedly.

"I have mail?" Marinette questioned, completely missing the importance of whom it's from. Getting some scissors, Marinette opens the package carefully; curious as to what Ashley would have sent her. Inside was a bottle of medicine, surrounded by many layers of bubble wrap – her love of bubble popping was itching to get some action – and a small letter.

'Dear Marinette,

I know our time together was short but I have grown quite fond of you and your kittens. In this regards, I wanted to try one more time to cure them if you are willing. I used some extra samples of blood we had left over from your kittens as the catalysts for this new experiment. Have each kitten take 5 pills when you get this package and call me if you see any signs. I really do hope this works; I would hate to see anything happen to those little angels. I wish you luck!

-Your friend, Ashley'

Marinette takes the pills out, holding the bottle gently. "I'm going to try them, it can't hurt to try one last time, can it?" Marinette asks Alya.

"Do it girl!"

That night Marinette gives the dosage to Plagg and Tikki with their dinners before they head to bed.

A few days later, they notice a change in the kitten's behavior; they've become more energetic and lively. While not necessarily a bad thing, Marinette and Alya still decide to take them to the vet.

"Marinette, Alya we have some good news!" The vet excitedly comes into the room with the results sheet from the new blood work. "The leukemia levels are steadily decreasing. If this keeps up they should be leukemia free by next week. This is such an anomaly"

The girls are so excited that their kittens are no longer sick, and love the energy and playfulness in them. Back in the dorms they kittens run around getting into as much trouble as they could, knocking down items, stealing anything sparkly, and attacking Marinette and Alya's feet. The girls didn't mind though, they loved seeing their kittens so happy.

Later on that week, Adrien asks Marinette to go somewhere with him. She agrees happily at the idea of spending more time alone with her crush.

"I feel bad having to leave for classes now that the kittens want to play more." Marinette confesses.

"It's okay Mari, they will be fine." Adrien reassures her. Bravely, Adrien grabs Marinette's hand and holds it gently as they are walking. He sighs out of relief when she didn't shy away and a hint of a smile appeared on her face. "Lets go sit somewhere, I need to talk to you…" Adrien hesitantly says.

"Okay, lets go to our tree" Marinette suggests and curiously looks up at Adrien's nervous expression.

They walk in silence to the cherry blossom tree that Marinette loves so much, that's becoming a special place to Adrien as well.

"Marinette, you know you are my best friend, and I would never want to jeopardize this, but I need to get something off my chest." Adrien takes a deep breath to collect himself and looks Marinette in the eyes, green staring down blue. "I have been thinking about you, more than I probably should. I'm jealous when another guy talks to you, I cant help but admire how beautiful and kind you are…" He looks away as a blush takes over his face before finally finishing his confession, but is stopped. Marinette had gotten some bravery, grabbed Adrien's face, lifted it up to look at her and kissed him gently. Stunned, Adrien sits there for a moment before it registers in his mind what is happening, and finally kisses back. Adrien runs his fingers through her dark hair, resting behind Marinette's head to pull her closer.

"Marinette, I really like you… You are my best friend; the kindest, sweetest girl I know and I want you in my life not just as my best friend but also my partner. Would you be my girlfriend?" Adrien holds Marinette's hand as he confesses, staring into her eyes, searching for an answer.

"You have no idea how long I have waited to hear you say that… I have been crushing on you since high school, but I never wanted to say anything because I couldn't risk losing you as my best friend…but yes, I-I would love you be your girlfriend!" Marinette slightly stutters before she grabs Adrien into a tight embrace. She was finally going out with her long time crush, it was a dream come true. They spent the rest of the afternoon up in their tree, kissing and talking.

Back in the dorm, things aren't going as well. Just down the hall live Chloe and Sabrina, two very popular, very obnoxiously rude girls. Chloe has it out to get Marinette because of the closeness between her and Adrien. Chloe believes Adrien and her were meant to be together and hates how Marinette was in the way.

"What's that noise? Don't those losers know I need peace and quiet?" Chloe angrily takes her frustrations out by yelling at her roommate Sabrina. In all honesty, the noise was not very loud, just a small meow through the wall separating Chloe from her enemy Marinette. "Wait. Meowing?" This wasn't a normal noise in a college dorm. "Sabrina go check this out for me."

Walking down the hall, Sabrina knocks gently on Marinette and Alya's door.

Alya bursts open the door, "How did it go?" she squeals tackling Sabrina in a hug.

"What?" A very confused Sabrina struggles away from her vice like grasp.

"Oh you're not Mari. What do you want?" Alya releases Sabrina and stares her down for an answer.

"I thought I heard meowing and wanted to see what it was."

"Oh, uh, there's no cats in here, you know that's against school policy. Now if you will excuse me I have work to do," Alya quickly shuts the door in Sabrina's face.

"Chloe, Alya said there's no cats, but she was acting kind of funny." Sabrina reports back to her rotten best friend.

"I bet you those lame girls are hiding something." Chloe pulls out her cell and calls the residential advisors for their dorm and reports her suspicions.

Awhile later, the RA knocks on Alya and Marinette's door.

"Yes?" Alya opened the door cautiously.

"There was an anonymous report that there are kittens in this room, we are here to inspect for evidence." The RA explained.

"Oh, uh come in I guess…" Alya says defeated, knowing she can't stop them now. She's just glad Marinette isn't home to witness this.

The RA finds Tikki and Plagg and has a crate brought up to take them away in. Alya cries as she says goodbye to the kittens.

"Since this is the only offence you have committed there will not be a punishment, this is a warning however. Don't break the rules again." The RA leaves, taking the crying kittens with her to the shelter.

Alya is left alone in the room to cry at the loss of the kittens.

Soon Marinette floats in on cloud nine from her date, and crashes back down when she sees Alya's face. "Oh my gosh, what happened?" Marinette rushes over to her best friend and hugs her tight.

"They took them… they took them away," she cries into Marinette. Marinette and Alya cry until they are out of tears. At a loss of what to do they call Adrien and Nino to tell them what happened. The boys want to come over but know they cant after curfew and promise to come over as soon as they can. The girls fall asleep, headaches forming from their grief.


	9. Chapter 9

I am soooo sorry its been forever since I updated I really am sorry… life got in the way and I had absolutely zero time to write…

The next morning, Alya sneaks out of the room as Marinette soundly sleeps. She finally got the poor girl to rest and didn't want to disturb her. Alya knew something needed to be done, but she was going to need some help.

"Ashley thank God you answered, Marinette and the kittens need your help!" Alya practically yells into the phone when Ashley picked up.

"What? Who is this and what's wrong with the kittens?" Ashley asks confused. Marinette never properly introduced her to Alya and it had just been a few weeks since she sent the package of medicine and wasn't sure if there had been any change or if Marinette even tried it.

"I'm Alya, Marinette's roommate. We used the medicine and it worked! Thank you so much for that by the way"

"You're welcome. But what's wrong with the kittens then? If the medicine worked then why do you sound so upset?" Ashley worriedly asked.

"The kittens are gone! The RA came and she took them away!" Alya tries to explain while hysterically crying into the phone.

"Oh no! I am so sorry." As Ashley tries to console Alya, a brilliant idea pops into her head. "Here, I have an idea! You have to trust me that everything will be fine. Give me a few days alright?"

"Okay."

After hanging up the phone, Ashley books the soonest flight to Murray, Kentucky to speak with the Dean at Marinette's university.

After a very long flight, Ashley arrives at the university and storms on up to the Dean's office for her appointment. Realizing that barging in rudely probably won't help accomplish her goal, she calms down before entering the building. Finding the Deans office, she timidly knocks on the door.

"Come in," Ashley hears form the other side.

Walking in she introduces herself to the dean and sits down. "Dean Gregory, I got some distressing news about two kittens being confiscated and turned into the pound by some of your faculty. I am here to discuss an alternative to this."

"Ma'am I am sorry for your concerns but the girls caught with those kittens were in clear violation of the rules of their dorms. I had no choice but to follow through with punishment and confiscation. "

"I understand your predicament in this case, however I believe this should be an exception to the rule. Those kittens are a scientific miracle; they are the first survivors of FeLV, more commonly known as the feline leukemia virus. Thanks to them I am able to save thousands of kittens form dying early from that virus. You having those kittens be a part of your campus is good for your reputation and standing with the scientific community don't you think?"

"I have to agree with you on that point, however I'm not sure what you would like me to do about it, the rules clearly state no animals in the dorms. I would love to help out but we absolutely cannot allow pets into the dorms at the risk of the health of other students. It is also unfair if I allow one student to keep animals and not everyone. I hope you understand my predicament."

"I understand. Isn't there anything at all you can do for them? Those kittens mean everything to these girls and the entire science industry. I'm willing to even put in a good word for you and the university to the magazines covering this discovery if you can help out even a little."

"Well, there is an apartment complex that is pet friendly just on the edge of campus. They are a year below the minimum grade to request to live 'off campus' but if they are willing to move there, I will sign off on their release form and waive the pet fee. Would this be agreeable?"

"Yes! Thank you so much Dean Gregory! You are the best, I need to go tell the girls this." Taking her leave, Ashley checks her phone once out of sight of the office. Alya texted her to let her know she will be waiting outside to hear the news. Exiting the building, Ashley assumes the girl pacing anxiously on the steps is Alya.

"Hello Alya."

"Ashley! What's the verdict?"

"Well..." Ashley relays the Deans deal with her to Alya who is overjoyed.

"That's amazing! Thank you so much Ashley, you are a life saver!" Alya screams and engulfs Ashley in a tight hug as tears of happiness threaten to spill form her eyes. ""I have a plan on how to break the news to Marinette! Can you go get the kittens and hold them until tomorrow?"

"Sure!"

Alya starts scheming while Ashley takes her leave to free the kittens from the shelter.

To be continued...


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